Reforming machine



July 4, 1950 H, B, PETERSON 2,513,358

REFoRMINd MACHINE Filed Jan. 3, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 if /Z 91 f4 2/ f75 EA 2/ I 77mi- Z? 23 L INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS July 4, 1950 H. B. PETERSON REFORMING MACHINE Filed Jan.' 3,1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill INVENTOR.

7 $1M XM 54am ATTORNEYS 1 July 4, 1950 H. B. PETERSON REFORMING MACHINEFiled Jan. 3, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS July 4, 1950 H. B.PETERSON 2,513,358 I REFORMING MACHINE Filed Jan. 5, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet4 INVENTOR.

DLM W.

ATTORNEYS July 4, 1950 H. B. PETERSON REFORMING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Jan. 3, 1946 INVENTOR. MQW te m 2.1;

ATTORNEYS Patented July 4, 1950 REFORMING MACHINE Howard B. Peterson,San Francisco, Calif., as-

signor to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of NewJersey Application January 3, 1946, Serial No. 638,856

Claims.

The present invention relates to can body reforming machines and hasparticular reference to devices for ironing out the closely curledopposed edges or curved connecting parts, called feyes of collapsedpartially opened can bodies as an incident to the completereforming ofsuch can bodies into a desired shape.

In a pending application, Ser. No. 638,854, filed January 3, 1946 bySamuelS. Jacobs and myself as joint inventors, now Patent No. 2,460,293,granted February 1, 1949, there is shown a reforming machine in which mydevicemay be used in the manner there illustratedp No claim is madeherein to the machine claimed in said pending application.

Shipment and storage of empty sheet metalcan bodies for use in makingcontainers or cans for food products sometimes is facilitated byflattening orcollapsing the bodies so that they occupy less space. Whenready for use, the walls of the collapsed bodies are opened or spreadapart and then the bodies are reformed by rolling or other means torestore them to their original or other desired cross sectional form.

The'opening of a-body usually leaves a pair of oppositely disposedcorrugations or curved connecting parts, knownin the can making industryaseyes, in the body wall where the wall has been closely curled or bentduring the collapsing operation. For best results in reforming a bodythese eyes must be entirely eliminated and itis to this feature that theinstant invention is directed.

The invention contemplates the provision of a continuously operatingironing device in which the can'body to be reformed is maintained inanon-rotating position while it is moved through a reforming station atwhich the eyes or curved connecting parts of the body are ironed out torestore the body to its original shape.

An object of the invention is the provision'of an ironing device foracan body reforming machine wherein a can body to bereformediscontinuously moved, while being held against rotation, through areforming station at which the areas of the body which include. theeyes, are ironed outfto eliminate the eyes. or curved connecting, partsand thereby restore the body to its original shape.

Another object is the provision of such an ironing device wherein apermanent set is given the areas of the body which include the eyes,byironing outthe material of the body at theseareas tQ-an extentbeyondits elastic limit so thaaany;

set to the eyes orcurved connecting parts will be permanentlyeliminated.

Another object is the provisionof an ironing device of thischaracterwherein the ironing out of the eyes is effected by the passage of thebody between ironing elementslocated on opposite sides of the movingnon-rotating body so that both eyes or curved connecting parts of thebody can be operated upon simultaneously.

:Another object is the provision of such an ironing device wherein theironing action is brought about by rollers having .a generated contour,shaped to progressively engage and iron out the eye areas or curvedconnecting parts of the bodies being reformed.

Numerous other objects and advantagesof-the invention will be apparentas it is better understood from the following description, which, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodimentthereof.

Referringtothe drawings:

:Figurel isa front elevation of a can body eye ironing device embodyingthe instant invention, with'partsbroken away and parts in section;

Fig. 2is atop plan view of the device illustrated in Fig. 1, with partsbroken away;

. Fig. 311s 'a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 inFig. '2;

Fig. 4 .is a fragmentary rear elevation of -the deviceshownin Fig. 1,with parts broken away;

Figs-'5 and 6 are enlarged perspectiveviews' of a can body beforeandafter the eye ironing out operation effected by the device shown inFig. 1; and

Figs. '7 to 12.inclusive are diagrammatic views illustrating the. actionof the ironing elements of the device on the can bodies.

As a: preferred embodiment of the invention the drawings'illustrate anironing device for ironing out corrugations or eyes or curved connectingparts A (Fig. 5) in partially reformed or'o'pened sheet metal'can bodiesB as an incident to reforming or restoring: a collapsed can body to itsoriginal cross sectional form, as for exampla the fully reformedcylindrical can body'D shown in Fig. 6.

- Theynopened partially reformed can bodies B are positioned, manuallyorin any other suitable manner, onto non-rotatable cylindrical mandrels orsupports'z i -(Figs. land 3)- which extend horizontally from averticallydisposed rotatable carrier disc'22'. The disc is mounted" on ahorizontal drive shaft 23 journaled in bear-ings 24 formedin a'frame' 25which constitutes the main formed with a pair of oppositely disposedrecessed I surfaces such as flats 3| which are perpendicular to a radialline :c-:c (Fig. 1) extending through the center of the mandrel andthrough the center of the drive shaft 23.

Thus when a partially formed can body B is placed on a mandrel 2| it isin a horizontal position with its side walls spread apart andfrictionally engaging the mandrel, as best shown in Fig. l. The mandrelis slightly smaller in diameter than the inside diameter of the finishedreformed body and the eyes A of the body extend outwardly. The body isplaced on the mandrel with these eyes or curved connecting parts at theflats 3| of the mandrels.

. With a partially reformed body B on its mandrel 2|, the continuouslyrotating carrier disc 22 carries the body along a curved path of travelthrough an ironing station F where the eyes A of the body are ironed outflat, as hereinbefore mentioned. This ironing out operation is effectedby a pair of spaced and parallel, rotatable ironing elements or rollers34, 35 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) between which the mandrels 2| and the bodies Bcarried thereon, pass.

The ironing elements 34, 35 are horizontal and are disposed below andabove the circular path of travel of the mandrels. These elements areformed on the inner ends of a pair of spaced and parallel actuatingshafts 36, 31. The shaft 36 is journaled in a bearing 38 formed in alower slide block 39 disposed in the lower portion of a verticalslideway 4| in a slide housing 42 bolted to the main frame 25. The outerend of the shaft extends through clearance slots 43 formed in the backof the slide housing and in the main frame.

. The ironing roller shaft 31 is journaled in a bearing 45 formed in anupper slide block 46 disposed in the upper portion of the slideway 4|.The outer end of this shaft 31 extends through clearance slots 4! formedin the back of the slide housing and in the main frame 25. Stop lugs 48(Fig. 3) formed on the slide housing 42 and projecting inwardly from theslideway 4| keep the lower and upper slide blocks 39, 46 separated andconfined in their respective portions of the slideway. These stop lugsalign with the curved path of travel of the mandrels 2| through theironing station F and thereby centralize the ironing rollers relative tothe path of travel of the mandrels.

. The two slide blocks 39, 46 are maintained under spring pressureagainst movement relative to each other, by a plurality of compressionof these springs and they surround the upper,

of the bolts are fitted with washers 54 and nuts 4 55 to adjust thespring pressure and to hold the springs in place.

The ironing rollers 34, 35 are rotated in unison and in time with thecarrier disc 22 by a pair of meshing spur gears 58, 59 which are mountedon the respective actuating shafts 36, 31. Stop collars 6| are formed onthe shafts intermediate their lengths. Spacer sleeves 62 surrounding theouter ends of the shafts adjacent the gears 58, 59 in cooperation withthe stop collars, confine the shafts against endwise movement in theirbearings during this rotation.

The gears 58, 59 are rotated by a pinion 65 Which is mounted on theupper actuating shaft 31. This pinion meshes with and is driven by alarge driving gear 66 which is carried on the main drive shaft 23. Therelation between the pinion and the driving gear is such that the pinionmakes one complete revolution each time the driving gear rotates througha distance equal to the distance between the mandrels 2| on the carrierdisc 22. This relation brings about a full turn of the ironing rollers34, 35 for each mandrel 2| as the latter passes between the rollers atthe ironing station. The rollers rotate in opposite directions withtheir adjacent faces moving in the same direction as the mandrels movingalong their path of travel, as shown by the indicating arrows in Fig. 1.

Hence as a mandrel 2| carries its non-rotating can body B between therotating ironing rollers 34, 35 at the ironing station F, the rollerscome into pressing engagement with the body at the areas which includethe eyes or curved connecting parts A. This rolls out these eyes with acombined ironing and wiping action effective against the outside of thecurved connecting parts. The two eyes engage the two rollers almostsimultaneously and thereby prevent any turning of the body on itsmandrel. This ironing out action is progressive as the ironing rollersengage and roll against the non-rotating but moving body as it passesbetween them.

For the purpose of bringing about this progressive ironing action theouter peripheries of the rollers are formed with a generated contour 68which is'proportioned to properly roll on the moving body as the bodyand the rollers come into andmove out of engagement with each other.This movement of the body and the rollers is graphically illustrated inFigs. 7 to 12, inclusive.

By close examination of these views a clear con-' body on its mandrelforces the rollers apart slight- 1y against the resistance of thesprings 5| acting on the slide blocks 39, 46, the effect of the springscompletely equalizing pressure on the two sides of the mandrel. Thisprevents any offsetting strain on the mandrel during the ironingoperation and thereby the parallelism of the rollers and the mandrel isnot disturbed. This separat-' ing action increases the pressure of therollers against the curved connecting parts A'at just the proper timeand place to facilitate nullification thereof. The total separation ofthe rollers, however, is small and is not suflicient to unmesh theroller actuating gears 58, 59 or cause any interference in operationbetween the pinion 65 and the main driving gear 66.

' With such a generated rolling action between the can body, backed upby its mandrel, and the ironing rollers 34, 35 the curved connectingparts A of the body are rolled out .fiat against the flats 3! on thevmandrel and this flattening of, the curved connecting parts sets thematerial beyond its elastic limit and thus=effects a'completeelimination of the curved connectingparts. The setting thus impressed onthe eyes, springs the-side walls of the body outwardly into theiroriginal rounded condition and completes the reforming of the body intothe cross sectional shape-shown in Fig. 6.

In this fully reformed condition the body D is slightly large indiameter than the mandrel 21 on which it is supported. Hence thefinished body may be readily stripped off the mandrel,

manually or in anyother suitablemanner following which it may be removedto a'suitable place of-deposit.

It is thought that the-invention and many of its attendant advantagesWillbe understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material/advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In an ironing device for a machine for reforming collapsed partiallyopened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined by opposedsharply curved connecting parts, the combination of a pair of oppositelydisposed rotatable ironing elements, 'yiel'dable mountings for saidelements to allow movement of the elements in a direction away from eachother, a non-rotatable support movable along a path of travel betweensaid ironing elements for supporting a can body with its curved parts inpredetermined position, and means for moving said support in acontinuous sweep along said path of travel to'bring said body curvedparts into passing momentary engagement with said elements, saidyieldable element mounting insuring equal pressure on said opposedcurved body parts to iron out said parts and thereby reform the can bodyto a desired shape.

2. In an ironing device for a machine for reforming collapsed partiallyopened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined by opposedsharply curved connecting parts, the combination of a non-rotatablesupport movable along a predetermined path of travel for carrying a canbody along said path of travel, means for moving said support and itscan body along said path of travel, a pair of oppositely disposedrotatable ironing elements located one on each side of the path oftravel of the can body carried by said moving support and between whichsaid support passes, said ironing elements having generated contours,and means for rotating said ironing elements to progressively engagetheir contours with the areas of the can body adjacent said curved partsin a combined wiping and ironing action as the support passes betweensaid elements for progressively ironing out said parts to reform the canbody to a desired shape.

3. In an ironing device for a machine for reforming collapsed partiallyopened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined by opposedsharply curved connecting parts, the combination of a non-rotatablesupport movable along a, predetermined path of travel for carrying a canbody along said path of travel, means for moving said support and itscan body along said path of travel, a pair of oppositely disposedrotating ironing rollers ilocatedone on each side of the path oftravelof the can body carried :onsaidsupport and between which saidsupport passes for'the engagement :of the curved parts of the body withsaid elements to iron out said curved parts :and thereby reform the canbody toa desired shape, a ,pair of oppositely disposed slides inwhichsaid ironing elements are rotatably mounted, tie :bolts extendingthrough said slides for tying them together, compression springs on saidtieboltsand acting against said slides equally for allowingequalizedseparatio-n ofsaidironing elements during engagement of theelements'with the curved parts of the body to exert pressure against thesaid parts equally during the ironing out operation and for maintainingparallelism between said elements and said support, and stop lugsdisposed between said slides for centralizing the ironing elementsrelative to the support as .it moves between said elements.

4..In an ironing device for a machine for are-- forming collapsedpartially opened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined bysharply curved connecting parts, the combinationofaa rotatable carrierdisc, a non-rotatable support carried by said disc for transporting acan :body along'a circular path of travel withits two curved connectingparts in radial alignment, 8. pair .of oppositely disposed rota-tableironing elements one located inside and one outside of said .circularpath, each ironing element having a generated contour, and means forrotating said ironing elements to progressively engage against saidcurved body parts during passage of the body between said ironingelements to keep the ironing-elements in constant engagement with 'thebody wall and to iron out said curved-parts toreformithe can-body to adesired shape.

5. In an ironing device for a machine forreforming collapsed partiallyopened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined by sharplycurved connecting parts, the combination of :a rotable-carrier disc, aplurality of non-rotatable supports carriedby said disc for transporting.ican bodies along :a circular path of travel with the two curvedconnecting parts of each body :in radial alignment, a pair of oppositelydisposed radially spaced slides located at one side of said disc, arotatable ironing roller carried by each of said slides one roller beinginside and one outside of said circular path, each of such rollershaving a generated contour, pressure means acting against said slides toprovide for yieldable separation of said ironing rollers, and means forrotating said ironing rollers during movement of said disc to bring thegenerated contours of the rollers against a passing can body toprogressively press against said curved body parts during such passage,the yielding of said rollers equalizing the pressure against both ofsaid curved body parts to iron them out and to reform the can body to adesired shape.

6. In an ironing device for a machine for reforming collapsed partiallyopened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined by opposedsharply curved connecting parts, the combination of a pair of oppositelydisposed spaced ironing elements yieldably mounted for movement towardand from each other, a support for a can body, oppositely disposedrecessed surfaces in said support, and means for effecting continuousrelative movement between said elements and said support to pass a canbody on said support between said elements as the latter press saidcurved body parts against said recessed surfaces to iron 7 out thesharply curved connecting parts of the can body and thereby reform thecan body to a desired shape.

7. In an ironing device for a machine for re:- iorming collapsedpartially opened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined byopposed sharply curved connecting parts, the combination of a pair ofoppositely disposed spaced ironing elements yieldably mounted formovement toward and from each other, a cylindrical can body supporthaving oppositely disposed flats thereon for receiving the can body withthe curved parts of the body adjacent said flats, and means forefiecting continuous relative movement between said elements and saidsupport to pass a can body on said support between said elements as thelatter ironout the sharply curved connecting parts of the can bodybeyond their elastic limit against said flats and thereby reform the canbody to a desired shape.

8. In an ironing device for a machine for reforming collapsed partiallyopened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined by opposedsharply curved connecting parts, the combination of a pair of oppositelydisposed spaced ironing elements, yieldable mountings for saidelementsto allow movement one from the other, a support movable in one directionalong a, path of travel between said ironing elements for supporting aean body, recesses in said support adjacent the sharply curved parts ofa supported body, and means for moving said support in a continuoussweep along said path of travel for pressing engagement of the curvedparts of the body against the walls of said recesses by said elements,said yieldable mountings insuring equalization of pressures uponsaid-opposed curved body parts to iron out the parts and thereby reformthe can body to a desired shape.

9. In an ironing device for a machine for reforming collapsed partiallyopened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined by opposedsharply curved connecting parts, the combination of a pair of oppositelydisposed rotatable ironing elements yieldably mounted formovement towardand from each other, a support havingopposed recessed surfaces, saidsupports being movable along a path of travel between said ironingelements for supporting a can body with its curved parts adjacent saidrecessed surfaces, and means for moving said support in a continuoussweep along said path of travel for pressing engagement of the curvedparts of the body between said elements and recessed support surfaces toiron out the parts and thereby reform the can body to a desired shape.

' 10. In an ironing device for a machine for reforming collapsedpartially opened can bodies having spaced apart side walls joined byopposed sharply curved connecting parts, the combination of a pair ofoppositely disposedrotatable ironing elements yieldably mounted formovement toward and from each other, a continuously rotatable carrierdisc disposed adjacent said ironing elements, and a plurality of spacedand parallel, support mandrels secured in said disc, each of saidmandrels having oppositely disposed axially elongated recessed surfaces,each mandrel being movable with the disc through a curved path of travelextending between said ironing elements for carrying a said can bodywith its sharply curved parts adjacent said recessed surfaces in acontinuous sweep along said path of travel for momentary engagement ofthe curved parts of the body with said elements and recessed surfaces ofthe mandrel to iron out said [curved parts and thereby reform the canbody to a desired shape.

HOWARD B. PETERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 331,571 Tasker Dec. 1, 18851,076,545 Blaxter Oct. 21, 1913 1,605,828 Fram Nov. 2, 1926 2,091,749Christman Aug. 31, 1937 2,145,125 Moore Jan. 24, 1939 2,254,250 Taylor,Jr. Sept. 2, 1941

